Hello Family! This was a good week. I'm excited for Family Home Evening tonight. Every Monday night, we have FHE with a family and teach them how to hold an FHE. Every time, I bear testimony about how having FHE every week with my family growing up really strengthened our relationships with each other and helped me to learn about the gospel and hear my family member's testimonies. I really loved having that, along with daily scripture study and family prayers. I really have a testimony that FHE is so important and can really be a blessing in your lives if you take advantage of it. If any of you haven't been having FHE every week, I would really encourage you to start now. It doesn't have to be super complicated or even very long. In case anyone who reads this doesn't know what Family Home Evening is, it is a time once a week when you gather your family together. You start with an opening hymn and prayer, have a spiritual thought or scripture, a lesson, activity, closing hymn and prayer, and anything else you wish to include (talent, treats, testimony, remarks from the head of household...). It is such a powerful thing that will really bring your family closer together. Please, each of you commit yourselves to have a meaningful FHE every week with your family so you can receive the promised blessings.
We have two baptisms scheduled for August 11th which we are excited for. Joan and IB are two young girls, 11 and 12 years old and they are very excited to be baptized. Their parents don't listen to the lessons or seem very interested, but they are very supportive of their daughters, who go to church every week by themselves. Of course we have a member pick them up and they sit with us at church, but I am so proud of them. They love coming to church and they love primary. They are so good!
Kabalo ko matuod ang Simbahan ni Jesucristo sang mga santos sa ulihing mga adlaw. Kabalo ko nga nagbayad si Jesucristo para sa aton tanan mga sala. Siya ang aton Manluluwas. Paagi sa iya, makabalik kita sa Diyos kon maghinulsol kita. Kabalo ko nga matuod ang libro ni mormon. Matuod nga propeta si Joseph Smith kag paagi sa iya, ipinanumbalik sang Diyos ang iya ebanghelyo sa kalibutan. Kabalo ko nga kon magpangamuyo kamo sa Diyos adlaw-adlaw, mabaton ninyo ang mga blessings sa inyo kabuhi. Pwede kita estoria sa Diyos paagi sa pagpangamuyo kag nagapamati ang Diyos sa aton tanan tungod palangga niya kita tanan. Palangga ko kamo tanan. Nagapasalamat ako para sa inyo hemplo sa akon. Ginibilin ko ang ining butang sa ngalan ni Jesucristo, Amen. Pili sang Maayo! Heidi
This last week, we went to the farthest part of our area. All of the people in this area are less active because it's so hard for them to attend church. I wish there could be a branch or something closer to them all, but there aren't enough active members to make it possible. Our Stake President works with us usually about once a week for an entire afternoon and I love it when he does. We always are able to make it to our appointments on time and we have his added testimony. It's especially nice when visiting the less active families because he is able to show them that the members care about them and miss them.
While there though, we met with a little 11 year old boy and his name is Daniel. His parents are members, but he is not. He is the cutest, sweetest little boy ever! I've never met a little boy so polite. He was also very interested and was listening so intently to our message as we taught him about prayer and explained how to pray. When I was speaking, he was encouraging me in the look on his face (Because I was struggling to say what I wanted to) :) And when our stake president gave him a gift, at first he didn't want to accept it, but when he finally did, he expressed so much gratitude... and it was just a little juice snack. I really loved getting to know him. All the people here are so hospitable and kind. They are so, so easy to love. We now have two more investigators with a baptismal date. They are so good... and of course, they are referrals from members... soo.... give your missionaries referrals!!! It is SO much harder to find investigators willing to listen when you just find them. Although we do have a few progressing investigators that were found from tracting as well. I love to see their desire to repent and change their lives. Sin is a painful thing... it causes guilt and shame and has other consequences as well... but because of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us, we have the ability to repent and become free from that burden. Our Savior and Redeemer, our Brother, Jesus Christ, suffered everything!! for each of you individually. He made that sacrifice because he LOVES you!!! SO much!!!! We ALL have made mistakes.. and do every day of our lives. It is SO important that we repent DAILY and use the power of the Atonement in our lives. It is ONLY through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we can return to live with our Loving Heavenly Father again. I am SO grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and for my Father in Heaven, who sent his Only Begotten Son to the earth for that purpose. Again, sin is a painful thing... but your Lord Jesus Christ knows EXACTLY how you feel. He experienced every pain and sickness and trial. He and your Father in Heaven know you perfectly. Never forget that. And never forget the perfect love that they have for you. Go to them in prayer. Pour out your whole souls to them. They DO listen. They DO care. And they DO answer.
I'm attaching a couple pictures of my apartment. It's so nice and big. We are so blessed! I mean... we still get rats and spiders and lizards and other weird creatures in there, but we have a lot of space. The bathroom is super tiny... I have to duck every time I go in. Sometimes early in the morning, I forget and end up hitting my head on the ceiling. hehe. For some reason the other missionaries want to get a different apartment... but I like the one we have. If we move... I hope it's to a tiny bamboo house in the middle of the jungle :) joke lang. They always give the Sister Missionaries the best apartments and they are always in the city. So, no worries, I'm safe :)
FYI, Missionary Work is hard!!! haha :) And, I love it!
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I'm glad you had a good time. I am so blessed to have such wonderful parents who love each other so much. You are such good examples to me. I love you both so much. And thanks for the email addresses. Next week I will work on emailing some individuals. (:
Wow, what a week! (: I'm beginning to see little miracles already! We taught 7 new investigators this week and that is a huge improvement for us. One of our investigators has been struggling a lot because he lost his wife a couple years ago and he and his son both are struggling to believe that they can ever see her again. We taught them the plan of salvation and I saw hope in his eyes. It was such a powerful experience and the spirit was so strong. I can't wait to see more experiences like that. It makes me so happy to see others faith growing even though it makes me sad to see them suffering so much. I know that God has prepared a plan for us that enables us to live with our families forever. Our message is such a happy one and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to share that message with others. I love all these people so much. My umbrella broke a few days ago and the next day I lost it somehow... and I was really worried because it rains so so often here and we are always walking in the mud and rain and we wouldn't have time until today to buy a new one. Incredibly it hasn't rained since I lost it and it will probably rain again tonight just after I buy a new one. I am super blessed! Also, this morning for P-Day, our district went to the beach and I caught my first 4 fish ever! It was a very exciting hour :) Ano pa? I've been understanding much, much more of the dialect. I still can't say a whole lot, but I can follow the lessons pretty well now and add a sentence here and there when my companion turns to me. I want to say more, but I know they understand. I've always been so shy that I wondered how I would be as a missionary. I'm definitely not the best missionary, but at least I feel my desire to testify to them increasing daily. I want to communicate with them so badly. And my companion is so great. She gives me so many opportunities which allow me to push myself and progress. I love her. Sorry the pictures aren't the best... but they are the best I have so far. The Philippines is such a gorgeous place. Every time I see something awesome, I want to take a picture of it, but we shouldn't look like tourists :) I hope you are all doing well! love you all! Halong! Sister McClellan
Hello my wonderful family... I've attached just a few pictures from the MTC, and the only one I have of my new companion. I can't send many because it takes a really long time for them to load. Maybe next time I will send some of the Philippines. I know you are probably just dying to see them :)
This week has been busy busy busy of course :) We attended two Necrological Services for members who died recently. They were both able to be sealed to their families in the temple before they passed away which was a huge comfort to those they left behind. Their cemeteries are a lot different than I've seen before. Instead of burying the coffin in the ground, they have little "boxes" that they put the coffins in and stack one on top of the other. It was interesting, but a neat experience.
At church, I play the piano. I enjoy playing the piano and I am so grateful to know how to so that I can help them. When there is no piano available, they always have me lead the music and here, the one who leads the music does a short solo as the introduction. I'm trying to imagine how I would have reacted to that a few years ago. I'm so glad I'm confident enough in my singing to be able to do that now without becoming to self conscious. :) This last Sunday there was an American man who came and spoke in Sacrament Meeting and I didn't understand everything he was saying because it was in perfect Hiligaynon, but he was here visiting the place where he used to serve. He knew a lot of the people and the part of his talk that I understood was that even though we all look different, we are all children of God, here for the same purpose and I know that to be true. Even my companion and I have different cultures and I've found that to be more of a blessing than anything else. Even when you are among people who look like you and who were raised the same way as you, you can learn things from them and understand that you are all children of our loving Heavenly Father. We were all raised and taught by Him as spirit children before we came to this earth. And each of us retained different qualities that we learned while in the pre-existence that we can use to bless the lives of others and help build the kingdom of God. This is something that I've been pondering a lot about lately, as well as my relationship with our loving Heavenly Father.
On Wednesday, my companion Sister Swarna and Sister White's companion, Sister Ilaga, left for Iloilo for a training meeting. They were there until Friday evening, leaving Sister White (my previous companion) and I alone to unleash chaos on the town :) hehehe... it was an interesting few days. I learned much though. I'm very grateful that my companion is back now... she is my guide!!!
I'm still struggling to learn Hiligaynon. As I've been beginning to replace the Tagalog words I know with the Hiligaynon words, I've completely forgotten all my Tagalog... and I feel like I can't communicate hardly at all anymore... but I know that over time it will come. I just need to trust in God and not become discouraged. I have complete confidence that the Lord will bless me to learn this language as I study and just continue to do my best. This work is fun. It's so, so easy to love the people because they are so willing to love me despite my weaknesses. They are such good examples to me and I learn from every one of them.
I love you all! Have a wonderful weekend! Halong kamo! Heidi
Maayong aga! Well, this week has been so full of stuff, I have no idea even where to start. My last few days at the MTC... my flight... my first few days... and these last few days.... I feel like I have hardly any time to write as well.. so, sorry. And... no pictures today still. I'm so sorry! I will try one of these days. The flight was long, but not as long as I expected it to seem. I am still pretty tired all the time, but I don't know if that's because of the time change or how busy I have been. Probably both. I love my President and Sister Pagaduan. They are so great and friendly and willing to help with whatever we might need. After a day of orientation and going on splits with missionaries in Iloilo, I was assigned to the Roxas 1st Ward. It was a several hour bus ride. The Panay island is a lot bigger than I thought. My new companion/ trainer's name is Sister Swarna and she is great. She is from India and she is really good at English and Hiligaynon. She is also very patient with me as I struggle to participate in the lessons. I want to participate, but when I have no idea what they are talking about and then she turns to me and asks if I have anything to share, all I can do is share my testimony in Tagalog. These people understand almost more English than Tagalog. In church yesterday, we sang hymns, read scriptures, and read from the lesson books all in English. I never know who I can speak English to and who doesn't know any. It seems funny to be using Tagalog when these people don't use it at all. I am tempted to just use English, but we are encouraged not to. So... hopefully I will learn this dialect quickly. It is soooo beautiful! Today is my P Day and this morning we woke up extra early to go fishing at the beach. It was raining though, so we just walked around and walked along the edge of the water. The water is so nice and warm! I wanted to go swimming so bad!!! I've missed the beach. There are also so many trees around here. Everything is green. It is so beautiful! I will have to take some pictures one of these days, but according to my companion, we can only take pictures on P Days... and it was raining today. It rains here all the time. So... I just noticed, I haven't put on sunscreen at all yet. hmmm... So... I've been trying to get used to people staring at me and my companion. Since we are both foreigners and we look completely different, it's been fun. Everyone stares!!! And little kids love to shake my hand. I love it here so much. It is pretty hot and humid, but I honestly like it. And the cool showers from the bucket... not as bad as I thought they would be. The water isn't freezing... it's more room temperature and it's so hot in there that it feels nice. I love almost everything about this place. I think I'm really going to miss it when I come home. I love the people, the jeepnies, the tricycles, the houses, everything! The houses are basically just made of bamboo usually, at least where I am, with dirt floors. My very first lesson in Iloilo was done at night in a house that had no light, so we lit a couple candles and gave our lesson with only that. We usually teach sitting on the ground and we are fed at every house. It is very eye-opening to see all this. They live completely different than we grew up with. I haven't seen any giant spiders yet, but I have seen a huge gecko thing and tons of lizards that climb on the insides of all the houses. There are dogs everywhere! I'm not allowed to touch them though. I feel like I'm rambling... but there is just way too much to write about than I can write in 20 minutes. The missionary training has changed a lot in the last few years. It's hard to remember everything that we are supposed to be remembering and focusing on. There is so much paperwork and planning and it all fits together perfectly. I will get used to it soon, but right now there are just so many things I need to remember every day. Relying on the spirit is so so so so critical to do, but it's also hard to get used to. Everything we do has to be by the spirit. If we don't have the spirit with us, we can't teach. Only through the spirit can they learn. So, also... our mission is focusing primarily on less-actives. There are so many less-actives, it's ridiculous. I don't remember the exact percentage. We only have a couple actual investigators. One of them is a little boy named Anderson. We feel he is ready to be baptized, but he needs to attend church 4 times in a row before he can be, so his baptismal date keeps being postponed. It's really difficult for some people to attend church because they can't afford the transportation. The people here are really poor. I have full confidence that Anderson will be able to do it though. He is a really good kid... although he has a really hard time paying attention in our lessons, haha. The church is true! My purpose here is beginning to sink in as I've been getting into the work. I really need to remember my purpose every day so that I can stay focused, because I've noticed that if I ever begin thinking about just myself, I lose myself. I am so grateful for this calling in my life. It is such a blessing in my life already. I know that as I continue to diligently study and serve the people and do all the things that I know I should and as I trust in the Lord with all my heart, and open my mouth, I will be able to fulfill my purpose. The Lord is there for each and every one of us as we turn to Him. I know that that is true. He is so loving. I am so grateful for you all. For your love and support and prayers in my behalf and for your examples to me. I have a feeling that the rest of my mission is going to pass way too quickly! Love you all! Heidi
